I am very interested in learning to quilt (by hand or machine). I purchased a book on ebay about hand quilting and it was not made for a true beginner. I didn’t understand half of what they were talking about. Can anyone help?
Hi! 🙂 My favorite, inexpensive, and very easy to find book that helped me learn the basics of quilting is called "The Complete Guide to Needlework" put out by Readers Digest. I think there is a new version, and I’m sure it’s fantastic – but if you’re a yard sale typa gal like I am, or even like to stop at used book stores or thrift shops, this book is a pretty inexpensive and easy find. I haven’t tried, but maybe even Amazon.com is a thought. I picked up mine at a sale for $1 and I still refer to it every now and then. The instructions are very basic, and perfect for someone who hasn’t a clue where to begin (like I was!). Among other popular needlecrafts, it gives you the basic run down on hand and machine quilting. If you find you love to quilt and really want to keep at it, you’ll find tons of newer books out there that give great shortcuts and techniques to cut down the time it takes to make your quilt.
Another of my favorite books, is the "Quilters Complete Guide" put out by Fons and Porter. It also has basic instructions for hand and maching quilting…plus hand quilting patterns, and some popular quilting designs that range from very basic to more advanced…it even covers different applique techniques (which you’ll discover to some is an art of it’s own!).
There are also many internet resources like www.quilterscache.com, that give basic quilting instructions and also offer TONS of free patterns and block instructions. Just look up quilting on Yahoo!.
To make a long answer even longer – you could always look in your phone book or online for a local quilt shop…most small shops (and even places like Jo-Anns Plus) will offer classes on rotary cutting, hand quilting, applique, and basic quilting just to name a few.
I’ve one suggestion to you as you are learning – when it comes to quilting, there are few hard and fast rules…a lot of what others will teach you will most likely be personal preference…things like whether to use expensive fabric or inexpensive, to use cotton batting or polyester, what brands of threads and needles…quilters’ can be quite oppionionated, and many have no quams voicing them! But as you test different techniques and products, you might find that you’re a gadget collector and just have to have anything and everything having to do with quilting…or you might find that some fabric, scissors, thread, batting and needles are all you need to make an amazing quilt!
Oh – one last thing…when you begin to quilt, a pattern that’s really easy and beginner friendly is called "Yellow Brick Road"…you can find it at your local quilt shop or Jo-Ann’s…it’s about $7 depending on your area…and it’s made with all fat quarters! It’s really cute, easy, and fun!
I hope this helps and good luck! 🙂
In this installment of Ask T&D we go over where we find shipping supplies, how we package and how to calculate shipping charges for your customers.
Friday’s sales were slow getting started, but ended up to be pretty sweet. I broke it down into three videos. The first one is “on the road”, which is basically me talking to myself while picking alone. I seriously edited these, you should thank me.:) Parts 2 and 3 are the haul.
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